Preparations for Steelmen’s step up gather pace

Jon Dunham

Corby Town boss Tommy Wright looks set to retain the vast majority of his Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division title-winning squad.

Preparations for next season are well under way at Steel Park and last week Wright revealed that the likes of captain Cleveland Taylor, Paul Walker, Greg Mills, Wilson Carvalho, Stephan Morley and Ben Milnes had all ‘shaken hands’ on new deals with the club.

That number is now set to rise after Wright held further talks with the remainder of his squad, who claimed the crown with a dramatic final-day success at title rivals Poole Town at the end of last month.

Wright had already confirmed that he expects to have to wait on midfielder Shane Byrne, who seems to be a man in demand, and young defender Herve-Pepe N’Goma, who is expected to have trials with clubs at higher levels.

However, Wright knows he will have to “make room” for what he expects to be at least three new faces for next season.

Of last season’s squad, he has offered Elliott Chamberlain, Claudiu Hoban and Brad-Lee Gascoigne the chance to train with the club in pre-season in a bid to earn new deals.

But it seems the rest are set to stay, although the putting of pen to paper is not expected to happen until next week.

“I’m not worried by that,” the Steelmen boss said.

“They are a tight bunch and I genuinely believe they want to stick together and go on to achieve even more here.

“It has been a busy time and the vast majority of the boys have made it clear they want to stay here.

“Elliott, Claudiu and Brad didn’t feature as much towards the end of last season and I have given them the opportunity to come back in pre-season and show they are what we need here.

“Certainly, if Elliott finds the form he had around Christmas time then I know we have a good player on our hands.

“I have spoken to two or three potential signings but there are holidays to think about and we will get things done when we get them done.

“We have deals on the table for the likes of Shane and Herve but, more or less, the foundations for next season’s squad will be in place by the end of the month.”